Claridge Homes wants to double the planned number of homes on the eastern part of LeBreton Flats that it bought more than a decade ago, including a proposal to build a 55-storey building on Booth Street.

Highlights of the new plan include:

1,650 residential units, as opposed to the 850 units in the previous plan.

Four new towers ranging from 25 to 55 storeys.

Affordable, senior and rental housing units.

Commercial retail, including a grocery store, in the podiums of towers.

New city park system that incorporates the aqueduct and five historical bridges.

The developer — helped by Toronto-based planning and design firm Urban Strategies — will unveil its new plans for the land at an open house Monday between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Bronson Centre.

The public is encouraged to drop by, look at the plan and artists' renderings, and ask questions of company officials. A pamphlet that went to homes in the area invites residents to "tell us what you think of the master plan before we submit it to the City of Ottawa for approval."

Claridge officials said the plans are far from complete, and that they are in discussions with the National Capital Commission and the city about how to develop the remaining open land on the eastern part of LeBreton. The rezoning and layout of the area, which could include five city-scale blocks, need approval from both bodies.

Claridge purchased the 4.4 hectares of LeBreton Flats that lies east of Booth, just north of Albert Street, from the NCC for $8 million back in 2005. The process was somewhat controversial and saw the only other two bidders for the land drop out before the final deadline.

The so-called "master plan" for the property had been in the works internally at the NCC for years before the sale. Critics at the time said the NCC was too prescriptive about what should be built on the land that had been a working-class neighbourhood 50 years earlier.

At the time, the plan called for 850 homes grouped around inner courtyards. Claridge also proposed building 197 affordable rental units, all by 2020.

Since then, a total of 500 homes have been constructed in three mid-rise condo buildings. The first one — a yellow-brick, unadorned 13-storey building visible from the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway — was not well-received by the general public.

Mayor Jim Watson once referred to the buildings as the "ugly condos" on LeBreton Flats.

In the last few years, Claridge has been working on an updated plan for the remaining land, arguing for a much higher density because it's walking distance from the new Confederation Line's Pimisi Station.

Back when the developer inked its deal with the NCC, not only was there no LRT line there, there wasn't even a plan for one. Now, the city has a policy to "maximize density around transit stations" and has put in place so-called "transit-oriented development" plans for all stations except Pimisi.

"On Monday, we're going to look at three years' worth of work we've been doing to re-imagine what we're calling 'The East Flats'," said George Dark, a partner at Urban Strategies.

"The original master plan on this is now probably over 20 years old, but also, when the original master plan was done, there wasn't an LRT station right there … And so, this particular piece of land needs to be updated to meet the aspirations of the city."

As well as increasing the density of the site, the plan calls for cycling and pedestrian walkways that would help residents get around the new neighbourhood — and possibly help people get from Pimisi Station to the new central library, which is being proposed for a piece of city-owned property adjacent to the Claridge lands.

"There won't just be a condominium neighbourhood," said Dark. "It will have condominiums, yes, but it will also have seniors' housing, it'll have affordable housing, it'll have rental housing. We're looking at how we can supply housing in what we're calling 'west downtown' for families, as well."

The plan also calls for retail on the site and Claridge officials have said they are specifically looking to attract a grocer to the area. And there's a wider array of uses being planned, including rental and seniors' residences, and affordable housing.

"I'm encouraged by the plans," said Coun. Catherine McKenney, who represents the area. "I think that if what we're seeing here is implemented, it certainly would be great. They're looking at establishing a complete neighbourhood … where people will be able to spend their day. They'll have a grocery store, there will be the amenities people need to be able to stay in their neighbourhood."

McKenney also gave a shout-out to the streetscape plans, especially on Booth. The Claridge plans call for three tall buildings to have entrances on Booth, which McKenney said will help provide "an active frontage" on the currently vacant, elevated street.

The early confidence in the project does come with caveats, and some unanswered questions.

It's unknown how many affordable housing units would be required on the site, and what those units would look like.

According to a news statement announcing the original land deal, "an NCC agreement with the City of Ottawa requires 25 per cent affordable housing on the site, geared to households in the 20th, 30th and 40th percentile of income levels."

Claridge has yet to build any of the proposed 197 affordable rental units, as those homes were to be constructed right on Booth — the part of the property that has yet to be developed.

The developer still plans to build some affordable housing on Booth. But now that Claridge is looking to building almost double the number of units, will it also have to double the number of affordable rental units in the development?

Or will Claridge be looking at another mix of housing — for example, 200 affordable rental units plus other types of housing that meets the spirit of the original agreement that called for a quarter of the housing to be affordable for folks at different income levels?

These are the sorts of details that will be revealed Monday night.

And there's also the issue of the proposed park system. Designed to incorporate five bridges that date back to the mid-1800s, it's a particularly charming part of the plan. Claridge put aside the land, as required by a city parkland policy, but it's unclear who would actually pay to build the park, which would eventually be operated by the city.

And the proposed 55 storeys for one of the buildings will likely raise some eyebrows.

"Everybody seems to be rushing to build 50-plus-storey buildings," said McKenney, calling the height "significant."

She said that while "height in itself isn't a bad thing," she's concerned about potential shadows that such a tall building would cast over the public spaces in the development.

Dark said a 55-storey building on the east side of Booth, positioned so that it doesn't interfere with protected sites of the Peace Tower, is a great location for a "signature building."

Still, he said he realizes "people are going to want to talk about that."

And the proposed 55 storeys for one of the buildings will likely raise some eyebrows.

"Everybody seems to be rushing to build 50-plus-storey buildings," said McKenney, calling the height "significant."

She said that while "height in itself isn't a bad thing," she's concerned about potential shadows that such a tall building would cast over the public spaces in the development.

Do people in Ottawa not realize that every point on the surface of the earth, except for two, rotates about the axis of the earth every 24 hours, so that any point that at any time during a day is shaded by a building, or a tree, or a fair-trade vegan mochalatte stand, is also going to be in sun for part of that same day, either before or after it is shaded, or both?

Well, they are likely to be pretty pasty. Seriously though, with 400 affordable rental units along with the three bedroom rentals and condos (and why not insist, given the huge increase in density being sought?) there are could be a lot of kids in the neighbourhood, no?

I kind of take issue with this. Claridge won the competition (by default) based on extremely specific NCC criteria calling for a mid-density neighborhood. Twelve years later, they are pulling a classic bait-and-switch, proposing buildings 2 to 6 times taller (and apparently stole Richcraft's Dow Honda proposal based on the second rendering).

This is unfair for the Rendez-Vous group who will have to pay full-price for the land across the street based on a competition that called for high density and gave proponents "carte-blanche". It's also unfair for the companies who participated in the 2005 competition.

Looking forward to seeing the complete plan because so far, I fail to see how this might tie in with the first few phases Claridge has already built.

Don't get me wrong, I think the original plans should be revised based on the changes the city has incurred over the past decade; change the layout, add a few floors, better connection to Pimisi Station, but this seems a little extreme.

But seriously, the proposed parks south of the parkway on both sides of Booth aren't really necessary. It would be better to put some buildings there. I think I counted 6-7 parks on Lebreton, not including the one for Zibi, the the one at Bronson/Sparks, Slater.

I don't know if it's just the angle, but it seems like they forgot Nanny Goat Hill in the area (seems like the hospital is at the same elevation as the site). And the tallest seems a bit out of place, if you ask me.

I don't know if it's just the angle, but it seems like they forgot Nanny Goat Hill in the area (seems like the hospital is at the same elevation as the site). And the tallest seems a bit out of place, if you ask me.

The tallest may seem out of place due to the fact that the Illumination Lebreton buildings that are shaded, are not to scale.

It definitely looks to have quite good bones... street level retail along Booth, for one. That's a huge plus.

Interesting that they're planning for a supermarket.. the Trinity proposal at Bayview also proposes a supermarket. I don't think the area can support two supermarkets until it's close to fully built out.

Claridge Homes’ vision for finishing up its LeBreton Flats development calls for a bustling, high-density city neighbourhood that has shops, cafés and lots of green space hugging the picturesque aqueduct running through the area west of downtown.

At the centre of it all is a congregation of five residential towers, the highest stretching 55 storeys, which would make it one of the highest in the city.

The plans unveiled by Claridge at a public meeting Monday night are predicated on the city’s agreeing to alter the zoning to allow higher buildings, and creating the aqueduct park.

The Claridge Development is just one piece of the puzzle in the massive redevelopment that will eventually transform LeBreton Flats. A development proposed for the west of Booth Street group will include a hockey arena, more housing, and other attractions.

Claridge won the right from the NCC to develop a patch of LeBreton Flats east of Booth Street in 2004, and has already built two mid-rise condo buildings and townhouses there. Claridge’s original plan was for about 850 units.

The new plan calls for 1,650 residential units. The higher density is possible because the new light-rail transit line will run through LeBreton Flats, said Danny Brown of Urban Strategies Inc., a design team working with Claridge on the proposal.

Housing can be much denser when there’s rapid transit nearby to give residents an alternative to cars, said Brown. “The LRT is a game-changer as far as what density can be accommodated.”

The LRT line will have a station at the corner of Booth and the existing transitway, which has been incorporated into the Claridge plan.

Sometime in the next three months, Claridge will ask the city for zoning and official plan amendments to allow the proposed towers, he said.

The zoning now allows a maximum of 10 storeys.

Higher-density housing can help create a sense of community, and is a more environmentally efficient use of land, said Brown. He said the towers would be slender. “Visually, if you have a big fat building, it’s pretty imposing on the skyline, pretty brutalist. We don’t want chunky, Soviet-style buildings.”

Plans call for a variety of shops and restaurants on the ground floor of the towers, with priority given to luring a grocery store. There could also eventually be a daycare or school, said Brown. He outlined a vision of an “urbane” neighbourhood where residents can shop for groceries, bike on nearby paths, hop on the LRT to get downtown to work, or chill out in the park near the aqueduct in front of the towers.

The park would be built by the city.

Claridge spent the past three years talking with the city and the NCC about the plan, he said. But it’s just that — a vision. The city would have to agree. And it could be 10 to 15 years before it’s all built, said Brown.

“This is our vision of what it could be. It does justice to the heritage and significance of the aqueduct.”

There was a steady flow of people at the open house, looking at maps and analyzing the plans.

The proposed towers might “clash with the ugly (Claridge) buildings already there,” joked Philip Pelletier, who lives in one of them with his wife, Della Faulkner. They were among the first residents to move into one of the Claridge condos on the Flats, which he describes as ugly on the outside but attractive inside. They both bike and take transit, so are looking forward to the LRT line and the chance to shop close by.

“I like the park space and the grocery store,” said Faulkner.

Main elements of the Claridge plan

Five residential towers: three of them would be 25 storeys, one would be 30 storeys and the “landmark” tower would be 55 storeys.

Housing that would include condos, apartments, seniors housing and affordable units, although the exact mix has yet to be determined.

Shops, cafés and other services on the ground floor of the towers.

A circular park near the aqueduct, and green space running alongside it.

A network of paths and streets to improve connections both within LeBreton and to the riverfront. One of the paths would run right over the aqueduct.

Booth Street would be “urbanized” to redefine its character and make it more inviting and comfortable for pedestrians and cyclists.